27th December, 2019 Tropical Cyclone (TC) “SARAI” has further intensified and has been upgraded to a Category 2 system at 7pm local time this evening. TC “SARAI” (Category 2) was located near 18.0 South latitude, 175.4 East longitude or about 220 Kilometers West of Nadi, Fiji at 7pm this evening. TC “SARAI” is currently moving South at about 13 Knots (26 Km/Hr) with a maximum 10-minute average winds up to 50 knots (100 Km/Hr) near its center, with momentary gusts of up to 60 knots (100 Km/Hr).
From its position at 7pm local time this evening and with cross-reference to our island groups it was about 995 Kilometers West-Southwest of Niuafo’ou, 1125 Kilometers West of Neiafu, Vava’u, 1100 Kilometers West of Pangai, Ha’apai, 1050Kilometers West-Northwest of Nuku’alofa, Tongatapu and about 1080 Kilometers West-Northwest of ‘Ohonua, ‘Eua. At this point of time Tropical Cyclone “SARAI” (Category 2) is still far away from the Kingdom of Tonga as of its latest position at 7pm this evening.
There is high confidence based on the analysis and weather forecasting models performance that TC “SARAI” (category 2) would change movement into a South-Southeast direction but still within the Fiji group of islands in the next 12 to 24hrs. It is expected that the system will be at 190 Kilometers, West-Southwest of Nadi, Fiji by 4am tomorrow morning (28th December 2019). As of the latest forecast track this evening, TC “SARAI” is expected be closing into our Tonga waters between Sunday (29th December 2019) to Monday (30th December 2019).
The Fua’amotu Tropical Cyclone Warning Centre (FTCWC), will continue to provide Tropical Cyclone Advisories (TCAs), Alerts and Warnings when necessary for Tonga on the developments of Tropical Cyclone “SARAI” (Category 2) every six hours and advisories will be updated more often prior to its track closing into our area of responsibility.
The associated Warnings which are currently in-force for Tonga are as the following:
- A strong wind warning remains in-force for Vava’u, Ha’apai, Tongatapu and ‘Eua land areas.
- A heavy rain warning and flash flood advisory remains in-force for the Niuas land area.
- A strong wind warning and small craft advisory remains in-force for Vava’u, Ha’apai, Tongatapu, ‘Eua, Tele-ki-Tonga and Tele-ki-Tokelau coastal waters.
The weather as we head into this weekend is expected to deteriorate as the system moves closer to our Tonga waters and land areas. We should be expecting damaging to destructive gale force winds and heavy rain which may lead to flooding. Storm surges could also be expected along the coast. For mariners, strong winds with rough seas could be expected from today onwards until next week. The situation is closely monitored, and any alert and warning will be issued as and when significant changes are anticipated.
Members of the public are always advised to remain alert and vigilant and to take warnings and advisories from relevant authorities seriously when issued, remain prepare and to be updated with the latest weather information.
For more details and the latest on weather, please contact the Tonga Meteorological Services on 35355, 35008 or visit the Tonga Meteorological Service’s website at www.met.gov.to . You can also visit the Tonga Meteorological Service official Facebook page for latest updates.
ENDS
For further information please contact the Meteorology Division on 35355 or metstaff@met.gov.to. More information is also available at www.met.gov.to
